If you were retired, would be the person you are, or would you be ????

So many people have horrid personalities while in a business environment, what with the pressures and competition, but when they retire, they actually seem lost until they find a more relaxed and complacent lifestyle. How do you think you will be react to the change in your world upon retirement?

The Examiner-1: Actually, I have found different. In the corporate world, you are in constant competition over where you are and where you wish to be and what you want from the system.Once retired, you must eventually realize that you are only in competition with yourself and eventually you must set new goals to achieve.Existence without goals is , well, impossible?DON

Not impossible at all.Existence without purpose would be tough, but since I have never been very competitive, or in a competitive work situation, I am not very goal oriented. I do like to explore options and possibilities, and retirement is a perfect time for that.

I always worked in high-stress jobs, so I looked forward to the lack of job-related stress. I was lucky in that I'd had a "dress rehearsal for retirement" when my employer moved the company to a state 1,000 miles away, a place I had no desire to live in, so I was unemployed for almost a year. Aside from looking for a new job, I used that time to learn how to live an unstructured, unstressful life. (Yes, one does have to learn how to do that.) From that experience, I decided to never, ever take another high-stress position, and I didn't.

Granted, I had to learn to live on less money, but it was definitely worth it. During that 10-month "hiatus", I'd gotten rid of tons of "stuff" my previous, higher income enabled me to buy, but which was just STUFF I didn't really need.

in a perfect world, we should all be able to take a year off during our working years and learn that life ISN'T about having the biggest house or the newest car or having more stuff than our friends and neighbors!

JamaGenee-That sounds great. I wish everyone had such an opportunity to prepare for the change from stress to real life.I found that I did make some mistakes thinking old dreams were what I had to do for fulfillment. Instead, you have to adjust your life to a world that has changed from what it was like those many years ago.DON

I am retired and I love it! I stay extremely active within the environment of my home office. I write when I want and what I want. I am a graphic designer and my clients are hand picked by me. I've made countless connections on LinkedIn and my life is full and rich in many ways. Mind you, I don't make the big bucks I used to make, but I am my own person!

The most important thing going into retirement is to have a plan of what you will do. I had written a novel 23 years earlier that was never finished. I committed my first year to getting it finished and published. It provided the focus I needed. I took most of the first year to get used to the "retirement" live, with my wife. It is not as easy to adjust as many think it will be. Especially going from being "the boss" to having no one but yourself to be in charge of... interesting question... and answers!! ;-) Retirement is a very personal, and distinctive, experience. Bill ;-)

I am retired from a secretary job at a construction company. Not by choice but because of the economy forced the business to close it's doors. I thought I would hate it. I thought I was a secretary, now I'm nothing. But that is not the case. The only thing I miss is the paycheck. Now I'm a home maker, a chauffer to my family, I have time to read, to go on shopping and lunch trips with my daughters, I started a blog and now am on Hub Pages. I always did cook, but I cook a little more now. I am still kept busy so I don't really feel retired, certainly not from life. I thank God I have the strength to do these things.Rachel L Alba

My job, for all its issues, is in an area I am committed to and with a company that generally treats me well. I suspect I will continue to do some work in this area as a consultant or volunteer after I retire. It is just too much a part of my life to give up entirely even when I need not do it full time.

I will be less stressed out. I am already passed retirement age and still working. I read about people's retirement goals, etc., but at my age, I just want to be left alone to do my thing. I will continue to write and maybe even establish my own blog site. However, at my age, all ambition has gone down the tube. I just want to rest. Give me five years of retirement and I may change my tune.Unless some things change, I have had to give up my dream of traveling and seeing the sights of the world because a bus accident I was in a few years ago left me disabled. I also was looking forward to doing volunteer work for a museum where I worked in the 1970s, and I can't do that now because it requires a lot of standing on one's feet. So, you see, goals may have to be changed as the years go by.

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